to delineate with or as if with lines; draw: to line the silhouette of a person's head.

Archaic. to measure or test with a line.

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Verb Phrases

line out,

Baseball.to be put out by hitting a line drive caught on the fly by a player of the opposing team.

to execute or perform: He lined out a few songs upon request.

line up, to secure; make available: to line up support; to line up a speaker for the banquet.

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Idioms

bring/come/get into line,

to become or cause to become straight, as in a row: The members of the marching band got into line.

to conform or cause to conform or agree: They were persuaded to come into line with the party's policy.

cross the line, to go beyond accepted standards of behavior: His outburst crossed the line between heated argument and offensive vilification.Sometimes cross a boundary.

down the line,

in all ways; thoroughly; fully: It's a fine house right down the line—well-built, roomy, attractive.

in the future.

draw the line, to impose a restriction; limit: They might exaggerate but would draw the line at outright lying.

go up in one's lines, Theater. to forget one's part during a performance.Also British, go up on one's lines.

hold the line, to maintain the status quo, especially in order to forestall unfavorable developments: We're trying to hold the line on prices.

in line,

in alignment; straight.

in conformity or agreement.

in control (of one's conduct): to keep one's temper in line.

prepared; ready.

waiting one behind the other in a queue: There were eight people in line at the teller's window.

in line with, in agreement or conformity with: The action taken was in line with her decision.

in the line of duty, in the execution of the duties belonging to some occupation, especially with regard to the responsibility for life and death: a policeman wounded in the line of duty.Also in line of duty.

lay it on the line, Informal.

to give money; pay.

to give the required information; speak directly or frankly: I'm going to stop being polite and lay it on the line.

off line,

occurring or functioning away from an assembly line, work process, etc.

not in operation; not functioning.

on a line, Baseball. (of a batted or thrown ball) through the air in an approximately straight line from the point of impact or delivery: hit on a line between third and short; thrown in on a line from the center fielder.

on line,

on or part of an assembly line: Production will be improved when the new welding equipment is on line.

in or into operation: The manufacturing facilities will be on line before November.

Computers.actively linked to a computer: The printer is not yet on line.

Word Origin and History for lay on the line

line

v.2

late 14c., "to tie with a cord," from line (n.). Meaning "to mark or mark off with lines" is from mid-15c. Sense of "to arrange in a line" is from 1640s; that of "to join a line" is by 1773. To line up "form a line" is attested by 1889, in U.S. football.

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line

n.

a Middle English merger of Old English line "cable, rope; series, row, row of letters; rule, direction," and Old French ligne "guideline, cord, string; lineage, descent;" both from Latin linea "linen thread, string, line," from phrase linea restis "linen cord," from fem. of lineus (adj.) "of linen," from linum "linen" (see linen).

Oldest sense is "rope, cord, string;" extended late 14c. to "a thread-like mark" (from sense "cord used by builders for making things level," mid-14c.), also "track, course, direction." Sense of "things or people arranged in a straight line" is from 1550s. That of "cord bearing hooks used in fishing" is from c.1300. Meaning "one's occupation, branch of business" is from 1630s, probably from misunderstood KJV translation of 2 Cor. x:16, "And not to boast in another mans line of things made ready to our hand," where line translates Greek kanon, literally "measuring rod." Meaning "class of goods in stock" is from 1834. Meaning "telegraph wire" is from 1847 (later "telephone wire").

Meaning "policy or set of policies of a political faction" is 1892, American English, from notion of a procession of followers; this is the sense in party line. In British army, the Line (1802) is the regular, numbered troops, as distinguished from guards and auxiliaries. In the Navy (1704, e.g. ship of the line) it refers to the battle line. Lines "words of an actor's part" is from 1882. Lines of communication were originally transverse trenches in siegeworks.

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line

v.1

"to cover the inner side of," late 14c., from Old English lin "linen cloth" (see linen). Linen was frequently used in the Middle Ages as a second layer of material on the inner side of a garment. Related: Lined; lining.

line

[līn]

A geometric figure formed by a point moving in a fixed direction and in the reverse direction. The intersection of two planes is a line.♦ The part of a line that lies between two points on the line is called a line segment.